


The Reflection

by mismatched_ideas



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Grief/Mourning, M/M, light on romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mismatched_ideas/pseuds/mismatched_ideas
Summary: Hinata Shouyou was a spiritualist with a whole lot of bad luck mixed up with a whole lot of good luck.Born without an aura, nobody thought he'd ever become a spiritualist, let alone be apprenticed to one of the best up and coming spiritualist pairs.His mentor dying and a world of scrutiny laid at his and his remaining mentor's feet, all while they try to work out how to handle the death of someone they loved.A freak accident that nearly kills him and fallout that nearly breaks the little strength he and his mentor have left.A young man from a prestigious family who is unfairly handsome and also unfairly rude.Hinata Shouyou wanted to find a way to move on, but somehow his past keeps coming back to find him.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Hinata Shouyou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 10
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world has two halves: The Here and The Reflection. The Here is where people live and The Reflection is where spirits live. Between the two is a thin overlap that connects the worlds. Spiritualists use their skills to protect The Here from spirits that would do people harm.
> 
> Hinata Shouyou is just another young spiritualist, or he would have been if it wasn't for his running into some bad luck. 
> 
> With he and his mentor, Akaashi Keiji, teetering on the edge, can they manage to keep things together?

Hinata woke up in a place he knew well, though his mind was left confused and fuzzy about the details of his arrival. He was the last person on the train, which had apparently reached his town and they shut down, though the doors were still open. Or, maybe, it had just arrived and there was simply nobody on the train. 

He got up and left the train, looking around but finding nobody else on the platform. He had no baggage, which was strange, but he wrote that off as having sent it ahead already. 

It was nighttime, but his watch wasn’t working–probably out of battery–so Hinata wandered toward the gate, looking for a clock. He found one and was surprised to see it was nearly midnight. He didn’t think the train to his hometown ran this late, but then again it had been getting more populated in recent years, so maybe they’d added a late last train to help stragglers get home. 

There was no station attendant, but that was hardly strange so late at night. They were usually locked up somewhere, only coming out if there was an emergency. Hinata thought about turning back to find the train engineer, but as he turned, the train blared a single, long sound before it headed out of the station. 

With nowhere else to go, Hinata turned back to the gate, horrified to find he didn’t have his IC card, a ticket, or any cash to speak of. Had he left it on the train? What was he supposed to do since there was no attendant? 

Finally, he sighed and decided to come back and explain the situation tomorrow and hopefully pay then. He slipped through the gate and no alerts went off, which was strange, but not unheard of. 

Turning his eyes to the sky, Hinata saw the swirling colors of the River of Souls was a deep indigo, with a little bit of blue and purple mixed in, showing it was mid-winter. And walking away from the station further proved this point, decorations for the New Year everywhere.

Walking the darkened streets of his hometown, Hinata was struck by how empty it felt. Sure, it was nearly midnight on a cold night, but it seemed too empty. He realized it was probably New Year’s Eve, which would account for the empty streets. 

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day were the second most spiritually active time of the year, second only to mid-August, so people didn’t go out much, especially here. The same year that Hinata was born, there had been a huge spiritual attack on New Year’s day and people here were still fearful of the holiday. 

The only place people went during the night of New Year’s Eve was to temples or shrines where they’d ring in the new year. His family tended to do that, so he headed toward the small shrine where they usually went. 

Hinata passed houses and businesses as he walked. Most of them were dark, but a few had light flooding out from between mostly closed curtains. Despite the cold, some houses even had windows open and from them, he could hear laughter and unintelligible conversations floating into the silent world outside.

For a reason he couldn’t place, Hinata could feel dread building up as he approached his destination. It all came to a head when he arrived at the shrine and heard voices floating down the stairs to him. He could hear the crackle of a fire and what sounded like two voices conversing quietly. 

He mounted the stairs and was surprised to find that hanging from the main shrine gate was a spiritualist's lantern. Its inscription wasn’t one he recognized and as he stepped through the gate, he felt the power of an unknown person run through him like electricity looking for an outlet. 

He didn’t recognize the inscription and he didn’t recognize the spiritualist’s power that was attached to it either, leading him to wonder what was going on. 

He finally made it to where he could see the fire, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixated on the two young men at the fireside, talking to each other seriously. He knew their faces and now he even recognized their voices, memories of his childhood friends coming back suddenly. 

They finally noticed him, turning and blinking, looking as confused and Hinata felt. 

“Shou-chan?” One of them finally asked, the one with the freckles. 

“Kouji? Izumin?”

Hinata hadn’t had any friends when he was little, at least not in the eyes of those around him. It wasn’t until their local spiritualist came for a visit that it was realized that his ‘imaginary friends’ were not people at all, but spirits. They’d helped protect him from spirits when he was little and didn’t understand what was happening and as he began to train as a spiritualist, they’d done their best to look out for him. 

The problem was, while protective, they were both pretty weak spirits. They generally could step foot on any sacred land unless specifically invited. And, more than that, they couldn’t enter an area protected by a spiritualist. 

That was all to say, that they shouldn’t be here unless… 

“Shou-chan, what are you doing here?” Izumi asked, concern on his face. 

Hinata had crossed over to the realm of spirits. 

He was in The Reflection. 


	2. Part 1 - Chapter 1 - Mid-March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Times had changed for ABH Spiritualism and they'd been changing for the last year and a half. Things had been tough and they just kept getting tougher.

The phone rang and before Hinata could even think about picking it up, Akaashi was already at the phone, answering in the sweet voice he only used with customers. To Hinata’s ears, it sounded terribly fake, but nobody else seemed to notice or mind so he guessed Akaashi knew what he was doing. 

“ABH Spiritualism, thank you for calling… Oh, Satou-san, it’s good to hear from you. We were starting to worry something had happened, after all, your home protection is nearly expired. If you’d like, we can come over tomorrow and– Oh, I see.” Akaashi’s voice fell a little and Hinata looked worriedly as his coworker. “What happened then was a complete fluke, we would never– No, I understand, but it’s the only time–” Akaashi’s face soured and his sweetness faltered. “What happened to Bokuto-sensei has nothing to ABH Spiritualism now, it was nearly two years ago. Hinata-sensei is one of the top spiritualists in the city and–”

Akaashi was cut off again and he simply listened, his eyes dulling and his face looking tired. 

“I understand. If you change your mind, please give us a call.” 

Akaashi waited another moment and then slammed the phone back onto the receiver, anger Hinata was still not used to obvious on his face.

“Those bastards!” 

“Akaashi-senpai!” Hinata exclaimed.

“They called to say they’re switching to K Family Spiritualists. Those bastards stole another customer!” Akaashi stood and began to pace. “We’ve been blessing the Satou residence for years without an incident! And for cheaper than K Family does even though our product is just as good and this is how they repay us? By jumping ship at the first sign of trouble. You know last year Satou Kanako-san even told me that she thought we were better than K Family?”

“I’m sorry, Akaashi-senpai,” Hinata murmured. “If I hadn’t–”

“Stop it, Hinata-kun, this isn’t your fault.” 

“But–”

“We had bad intel, that’s not your fault.” This wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation. Or, at this point, argument. “You did everything you should have but we had some bad luck. That’s all there is to it.”

“I understand that Akaashi-senpai, but it was still my job to not let that happen. And then we even had to call K Family to help…” 

“You did the right thing. Nobody was killed. No bystanders were even injured. You did the best you could with what you had.” 

Hinata fell quiet, not sure what he could say to make Akaashi see his side. He was their Primary and he was the one who was supposed to be a leader. He was supposed to keep everyone safe. 

“You got hurt.”

Akaashi sighed and sat down, running a hand through his hair and making it look even messier than usual. It had been getting messier and messier since The August Incident, but recently it had gotten even worse. Hinata worried that Akaashi had completely stopped brushing his hair. 

“So were you.”

“I’m fine now.” 

“So am I.” 

“Bokuto-sensei wouldn’t have let that happen.” 

“Koutarou was…” Akaashi struggled for words and Hinata felt bad for bringing him up. “The same thing could’ve happened to anyone.” 

A painful silence hung over them as neither of them looked at each other, wounds that should have healed still feeling fresh. There was nothing to be done about the past, but at least for Hinata, every other thought seemed to be about what he could’ve done differently. 

He hadn’t even been there and maybe that was the thing he regretted the most. 

“We should get ready,” Akaashi said, standing again. “We might have lost the Satou’s, but we still have work to do.” 

“Yeah,” Hinata agreed because, at the end of the day, he couldn’t keep looking back. He could only move forward. 

They started at the front door, Hinata carefully painting his protective runes onto the worn wood, tracing over the faded runes from last year. 

Hinata was in the traditional white kimono of a Spiritualist Primary, the sleeves tied back with a tasuki to keep them out of the way. Some primaries would forgo the tie and simply slip the sleeves off and tuck them away, but Hinata felt strange doing so. Bokuto had done that on hot summer days, but Hinata always felt like that was something you earned once people cared less about how you looked on a job and more about the fact that  _ you  _ were there. 

Behind him, Akaashi stood still in the traditional Secondary’s outfit of a loose-fitting black dress. A long time ago, women were Secondaries and men were Forwards so the clothes reflected that–disregarding the general unisex nature of the kimono design–and even as that changed, the outfits did not. Hinata was honestly jealous of Secondaries since the dress was much easier to move in that his kimono. Then again, once he was out of his body, clothes weren’t nearly as cumbersome. 

Most modern Spiritualists, especially here in Esperson, would forgo the traditional outfits except for special occasions, but Bokuto had always insisted that the traditional garb was cooler. 

Hinata wasn’t about to ask Akaashi to go back on Bokuto’s wishes only a year and a half after he died. 

“Ready?” Hinata asked as he faced the door.

“Ready,” Akaashi responded, taking up his position behind Hinata. “Ready?”

“Ready.” 

Hinata closed his eyes and wait for Akaashi’s countdown, focusing on the door’s marking and hoping for a smooth transition. 

“Three,” Akaashi’s voice was smooth and even, grounding Hinata even as he got ready to step out of his body. “Two. One. Go.” 

Hinata stumbled forward, gasping for breath as he tried not to pass out. He glanced back at his body, eyes closed and looking serene. He’d successfully projected into the barrier between The Here, the human world, and The Reflection, the spirit world, and now he had to get down to business. In the past, Primaries–called Forwards–sent their whole body into The In-Between, but these days that was only done in more dangerous situations. Instead, only the spirit was sent in, leaving the body in The Here.

Behind his body, Akaashi’s was watching him, unblinking, and so Hinata gave him a thumbs-up. People without strong spiritual power couldn’t see things in The In-Between, but Spiritualists could. As his Secondary, Akaashi would watch for danger both in The In-Between and in The Here. He would be ready to pull Hinata out, worst come to worst, which was why Secondaries used to be called Tethers. 

Hinata moved through the empty house looking for weaknesses. He found a new weak spot in the kids’ room and stopped to shore that up. The rest of the house only needed its normal charms to be strengthened. One of the ‘strings’ that connected the charms to the home’s stabilizer–the marking on the door, had been broken in the past year so Hinata mended that before giving the whole house a thorough check. 

Satisfied, he headed back to his body, wondering how long this job had taken. For a simple job like this, it normally took an hour, but he’d been more thorough lately and so the jobs had been taking longer, much to the chagrin of both the customers and Akaashi. 

Just as he was about to return to his body, Hinata heard a sound to his left. He turned quickly, looking down the road but seeing nothing of any interest. He wasn’t sure exactly what the sound had been, but it had sounded almost like a bird. Hinata had strong spiritual hearing so it really could have been anything and was probably just a harmless spirit passing by. 

A cold wind blew into his face and he shivered, something feeling off though he had no idea why. 

But, he didn’t see or hear anything else and he could practically feel Akaashi’s worried gaze on his back so he sighed and returned to his body. He gasped as he entered his body, coming closer to collapse this time, but he was able to stay on his feet. 

He checked his watch and saw he’d been working for over two hours. 

“You okay?” Hinata asked Akaashi when he finally came out of his trance. 

“Yeah, nothing out of order,” Akaashi responded. “But what were you doing at the end there? I thought you were going to run off.” 

“I thought I heard something,” Hinata explained. “I’m probably just being jumpy, though.” 

Akaashi looked like he wanted to ask something else, but the homeowner had just arrived home and, probably surprised they were still here, he came to talk to them. Akaashi’s voice turned sickly sweet and Hinata found that he felt really, truly tired. 

The March air wasn’t particularly cold, but he still shivered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got more writing done than expected this week, so I'm beginning my posting today. 
> 
> I'll post around this time every week until part one is done, then I'll probably take a short break. At the moment, part one will be 7 chapters long, though there's always a chance one chapter will get too long and need to be split. 
> 
> If there's any confusion about my choices on honorifics, you can ask. They're kind of a mess because I was thinking about the outward-facing use of honorifics versus the way they'd talk to each other being more friendly. This entire fic has been testing my ability to think about honorifics. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this!


	3. Chapter 2 - April I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The yearly meeting for upper-tier registered Spiritualists was a big deal every year, but this year it was an even bigger deal. Hinata hoped they'd manage to make it through this meeting without losing their ranking, but he wasn't especially optimistic.

The yearly meeting for upper-tier registered Spiritualists was a big deal here in the capital and Hinata still had a hard time understanding why. 

Hinata was from a rural, low population area so his view on the event was a little different. In areas like the one where he grew up, registered Spiritualists were few and far between and often one would serve multiple towns, so leaving the area once a year for a 3-day meeting was seen as a bad idea. Even though the meeting was held during the season of lowest spiritual activity, it was still dangerous.

That was why each region chose one team of Spiritualists to go each year instead of sending all upper-tier Spiritualists. 

In the past, ABH Spiritualism had been not just upper-tier, but U2, the second-highest rank. Only about 7% of Spiritualist teams made it to that rank and it was excepted that ABH Spiritualism would eventually rise to U1. 

Then everything started going wrong as if a bad luck spirit had attached itself to the group. 

After The August Incident, they fell to U3. After what happened in January, Hinata expected they'd be demoted to Mid Tier at this year’s meeting. Tier demotions were uncommon, so it was a big deal that they might be. In a way, it made them celebrities for the second year in a row. 

Like usual, they arrived on foot in their traditional garb, and just like last year, there was media there to capture their arrival. Questions were thrown their way, but Akaashi ushered Hinata forward without ever acknowledging the reporters. Still, Hinata could see every small flinch and muscle contraction as the questions hit too close to home. 

Akaashi had lost his fiance and all they could think about was their next big story. Surprisingly, though, the question that seemed to hurt Akaashi the most was a simple question asking if they were going to drop the B from their group's name. It was the only question Akaashi even half acknowledged, his head falling as he gritted his teeth. 

Sometimes, Hinata wished he'd never come to the capital. 

They finally made it inside and the noise dropped, Akaashi visibly relaxing for only a moment before they were met by a greeting from another Spiritualist and Akaashi was back on edge. 

They headed further into the building and Hinata thought they might be out of the woods when he saw he still had shit luck. Coming straight toward them were the Kageyama siblings, the lead Spiritualists for K Family Spiritualism. 

They were both wearing well-tailored suits, Kageyama Tobio's was black while Kageyama Miwa's was white, and matching red ties. They also had a matching silver 'K' pin on their suit jackets that also matched the color of their family’s pure silver auras that were as uncommon as they were powerful. 

"Akaashi-sensei, Hinata-sensei," Miwa greeted. "You look to be in good health."

Hinata couldn’t believe she really thought that, given how horrible they both looked. His eyes were ringed with bags and his hair had dulled. Akaashi’s skin was too pale and the bandages on his arm poked out from under his sleeve. Neither of them had looked good in almost two years and everyone knew it. 

Hinata knew she was just being nice. 

“You too, Kageyama-hakase,” Akaashi responded. “Have you become settled in your new position?”

After The August Incident, Kageyama Miwa became the head of K Family Spiritualism–which was why she was called ‘hakase’ by other spiritualists–the youngest head in the family’s history. Unlike ABH Spiritualism, K Family had a long and well-known history, which explained why they were U1 despite Miwa being so young. 

“Yes, I think I’m finally finding my footing.” Miwa bowed her head slightly. “Akaashi-sensei, I don’t think I ever apologized for the fallout from That August. Grandpa would have wanted to apologize. ABH Spiritualism took the brunt of the negative press, but it was our fault too.” 

“Bokuto-sensei was the primary,” Akaashi said, his voice strained, “If one isn’t ready to lead, one isn’t ready to be a primary. And if one isn’t ready for the burden of failure, one isn’t ready to lead.”

“Still, there is a certain amount of extra burden that should be placed on a senior Spiritualist, even if he was a secondary.”

Akaashi just nodded, seeming unable to find any words to give to Miwa in response. She accepted it and Hinata wanted nothing more than to move on because he could feel Tobio’s eyes on him like he was trying to set Hinata on fire. 

Hinata had met Miwa before The August Incident, but the first time he met Kageyama was when he’d been called in to help save Hinata’s ass. 

“Ah, Hinata-sensei and I wanted to thank Kageyama-sensei for his help,” Akaashi said, nearly causing Hinata to curse at him aloud. “Things might have gotten much worse if he hadn’t arrived when he did.” 

“It’s really not a big deal, it was the least we could do. I just wish I could have come myself.” 

The two people that were most affected by the situation were silent, neither of them included in the conversation. Hinata felt like a kid whose parent was apologizing to another parent in his place. 

He hated this. 

What right did Tobio have to look at him like he was a demon? What right did Miwa have to act like it was not a big deal? What right to Akaashi have to apologize for him? 

He already knew he’d screwed up. 

“Would you just say what you’re thinking?” Hinata finally burst, glaring at Tobio. “If you won’t, then quit staring at me like that!” 

“Hinata-kun,” Akaashi hissed, but Hinata didn’t care. He was done with everyone judging him for things that were his fault but were also out of his control. 

“Just say you think I’m incompetent!” 

“Fine!” Tobio shouted, “You’re an incompetent asshole. You’re reckless and stupid. And you shouldn’t be allowed to practice until you’ve gotten a real teacher!” 

“Excuse me?” Hinata asked, taking a step forward, though Akaashi immediately grabbed his arm to stop him from moving closer to Tobio. “A real teacher?” 

“Every Primary out of your group has screwed up, haven’t they?” Akaashi’s hand tensed, but he didn’t say anything. “Maybe none of you should be practicing.” 

“Tobio.” Miwa’s cordial smile had dropped and she was looking at her brother with hard eyes. “That is uncalled for. Bokuto-sensei was–”

She was cut off by Tobio turning and stormed away, causing her to sigh and then bow to Akaashi and Hinata.

“I’m so sorry about that. He didn’t mean it… He’s still not… He was closer to Grandpa than me and his death really affected him, he’s just looking for someone to blame. He was…” Miwa sighed again. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright,” Akaashi said, his eyes dull and his smile unconvincing. “It’s been a tough time for all of us.”

Miwa nodded and Hinata realized that, once again, he’d ended up being demoted to a silent child. 

The time for their reckoning didn’t come on the first day of the meeting, so that night Hinata found himself unable to sleep, thoughts about tomorrow swirling around unhelpfully. He didn’t want them to be demoted, but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do. He and Akaashi had already submitted their reports on the event and wouldn’t even be allowed to speak during the proceedings to decide their fate. 

Hinata finally gave up on sleep and left his room to get a glass of water. He and Akaashi–and once upon a time, Bokuto–lived together above their store. It was a small apartment, but it had two bedrooms and a nice living area, so he wasn’t about to complain. 

Before he could get any water, Hinata saw that Akaashi was asleep on their couch. He had to curl his legs up to fit on the small couch, surely leaving him with sore knees in the morning, but he must not have minded because this wasn’t the first time Hinata has found him here, arms wrapped around the plush owl Bokuto had had since his childhood. 

Hinata didn’t know how long it took to move on from the death of your fiance, but he guessed it would be at least another year. 

Hinata scooped Akaashi up, surprised how much lighter he was from even the last time he’d done this. Back in the day, he and Bokuto would work out together and so Akaashi had enough muscle to make him pretty heavy, not that Hinata made a habit of picking him up at the time. But Akaashi didn’t go to the gym anymore so his muscle had disappeared. And now he barely ate, so he’d lost weight too. Not that Hinata hadn’t lost weight himself. Food just didn’t look as appetizing anymore. 

Once Akaashi was tucked into his own bed, Hinata finally went to get his water, only to notice a tapping sound at the window. Looking he saw three familiar faces. 

“Hey, guys,” Hinata greeted, “Long time no see.” 

Before anyone realized Hinata even had a spiritual proficiency, he’d been able to see spirits. His sight wasn’t that strong, but it was strong enough to see them and because his hearing was above-average, the spirits often came to talk to him. Many of them, it turned out, were lonely. 

The three spirits in front of him now were his first friends. He’d been afraid of most spirits when he was little, but these three were so friendly he’d never been particularly afraid of them. Spirits usually didn’t like exchanging names, so he’d simply called them  _ San’nin-no-tomodachi _ –at least, that’s what he’d started calling them when he was older since he’d initially given them each names like ‘moon’ and ‘fluffy’–which was still what he called them even now. He shortened it to  _ Sanoto _ for conversation, but he didn’t often call them by ‘name’ anyway. 

They were a group of three spirits, identical except for their different heights. They all had sort of shield-shaped masks for face, with big black ovals for eyes and a thin, but welcoming smile. Their bodies looked like red dresses and they didn’t seem to have arms or legs. He hadn’t seen them since January and he’d been worried about them. 

“ _ Kiku-no-yujin _ ,” they’d given him their own name too. “Are you unharmed?”

“I’m fine,” Hinata laughed, “just ran into an aggressive spirit.” 

“We will fight them for you,” they declared, speaking in unison–they always spoke together–and sounding a little angry. Despite the fact that Hinata didn’t know the chittering language they spoke, he’d always been able to understand them and could even recognize their tone. 

“Thank you, but it’s okay, they’ve been dealt with.” He cupped his hands and held them out, letting the three scurry into his palms. “Were you three hurt? I haven’t seen you since January.” 

“We were banished back to Karasuno,” they explained. “We’ve been traveling back since then.” 

“I’m sorry, you must be tired,” Hinata told them, heading back to his bedroom. 

“We feared for you.” 

“I’m okay, really.” 

Hinata set them down on his bedside table before sitting down next to them. He knew it was considered bad practice to let spirits into your home, but he’d known these three his whole life. 

“ _ Kiku-no-yujin _ , there is danger coming.”

“Danger? What kind of danger?” 

“Danger! Danger!” They chirped, leaving Hinata still unclear about what they meant.

“You need to give me more than that.” 

“It’s coming.” 

“What’s coming?” Hinata pressed.

In response, the three were quiet for a long time before, for the first time in his life, they spoke one at a time. 

“A spirit,” the shortest one said. 

“A monster,” the middle one told him. 

“A god,” the tallest one finished, causing a shiver to run down Hinata’s spine. 

“Can you tell me anything else?” Hinata asked. “Where is it coming from? How?”

“We are afraid,” they told him, back to talking in unison. “We are afraid.”

Hinata sighed, accepting that they had nothing else to say.

“The Council was on edge today. And I think there were more protective lanterns up than last year.” 

“We are afraid.”

“Well, there’s not much I can do, but I’ll watch out, okay?” They were quiet, but Hinata took that as agreement. “I should probably sleep now if that’s okay.” 

“Sleep,  _ Kiku-no-yujin _ ,” they agreed. “We will watch.” 

“Thank you.” Hinata wasn’t sure what they were so afraid of, but he didn’t mind letting them protect him, even if that protection was in name only, since they weren’t especially powerful. Still, if something bad did happen, they could at least wake him up. “Good night.” 


	4. Chapter 3 - April 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today would be the day of reckoning for Akaashi and Hinata. Hinata was _not_ looking forward to it.

The next morning, Hinata had to spend quite a bit of time convincing S _ an’nin-no-tomodachi _ not to come with him to the meeting. He wasn’t sure how everyone would react to his spirit friends, but he didn’t want to find out. 

Today’s proceedings were less grand and so Akaashi and Hinata donned simple black suits instead of the traditional Spiritualist garb. The first night was the one that people really cared about so it was the night when people got dressed up, the feeling more like that of a gala. The second day was more business-focused, so most people just wore suits or the like.

“Akaashi,” Hinata spoke quietly, not wanting the other people on the train to hear him. “What if Kageyama-sensei was right?”

“About what?” 

“That I shouldn’t be a practicing Forward. I only trained under Bokuto-sensei for two years. Aren’t Spiritualists supposed to apprentice for 6 years?”

“That’s ideal, of course, but there were extenuating circumstances,” Akaashi’s words were unexpectedly even and Hinata was surprised to see that he looked a lot better today than he had the day before. “And, anyway, you trained with Ukai-sensei and Takeda-sensei. Everyone knows the Ukai name.” 

“Why’d you and Bokuto-sensei accept me?” 

Akaashi looked at Hinata for a long time before smiling, reaching out to tussle his hair like he was still 16 and not 20. Because it was Akaashi, Hinata didn’t mind. 

“The demonstration you did with–what was his name? Oh, Yamaguchi-san. It was messy and unrefined and careless, but it was also full of potential. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to Koutarou, but watching you reminded me of the first time I worked with him. Messy, but impressive. So bright that it hurt to look at, but impossible to look away from. You had no aura and yet you were better than half of the people out there because, first and foremost, we could tell you worked hard to get where you were. Skill means nothing without hard work and you’re one of the hardest workers I’ve met.” 

“You could tell all that just from a few minutes?” Hinata asked, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t understood half of what Akaashi said. 

Akaashi’s smiled widened and he snorted out a laugh, “No, I guess not all of that. Koutarou was the one who noticed you first. He thought it was cool that you didn’t have an aura.” 

Hinata laughed at that. It was easy to imagine Bokuto saying something like that. At the time, he would have been about 20 years old and just barely a fully-fledge Spiritualist. Hinata was a tiny nobody without an aura and that was probably the thing that excited Bokuto. 

“He was a great person, wasn’t he,” Hinata mused. 

“Yeah,” Akaashi responded, still smiling despite the sadness in his eyes. “He really was.” 

Normally the second day didn't have a lot of reporters waiting to take pictures and ask questions, but Hinata realized he should have known that today wasn't normal. Upon their arrival, there were cameras clicking and reporters asking more questions. 

"Should we talk to them?" Hinata asked but Akaashi shook his head. 

"We'll wait until after the decision is made. I don't want to be forced to speculate."

"If you're sure…"

"It won't help anything to talk to the press," Akaashi insisted, his back straight and his eye forward. Despite his visible exhaustion, he looked suddenly as strong as the day Hinata met him and Bokuto. "We have no reason to give them excuses."

"Okay," Hinata nodded and they headed inside. 

He still felt each question like a knife. 

"We will begin with a character witness for Akaashi Keiji-sensei. Kageyama Miwa-hakase, please come forward."

The proceedings had begun with a lot of confusing and boring formalities, but now that those were over, it was time for the important parts. Hinata hadn't expected them to start with a character witness for Akaashi and he also hadn't expected that witness to be Kageyama Miwa. 

"Thank you, Sir," Miwa said, bowing to the judge.

Normally, the judge would have been the head Spiritualist, but as the current head was the grandfather of Hinata's first mentor, it was decided he should recuse himself. Instead, a member of the council was chosen at random to take his place. 

"Please explain how you know Akaashi-sensei."

"Of course. I met Akaashi-sensei two and a half years ago. Due to Bokuto Kotarou-sensei's fame, my grandfather sought to work with him. There was a dangerous project coming up and he would need two teams. As my brother wasn't prepared to be involved in such a dangerous project, we decided to look elsewhere.

"Akaashi-sensei and I paired together for this project while my grandfather and Bokuto-sensei paired together. I was able to work with Akaashi-sensei and found him to be careful, competent, resourceful, and perceptive. He was the first to notice the approaching danger during the August Incident, but we were unfortunately too far from the others to help in time. Neither he nor Bokuto-sensei nor my grandfather nor I can be blamed for that incident, no matter what some here have said. It was dangerous, even for top tier Spiritualists, and we all knew that going in. The fact that only two of us were lost is a testament to our success."

"Success is pushing things, don't you think?" One of the council members broke in, earning him a withering look that Hinata was glad not to be on the receiving end of. 

"We sealed the portal. That was our job and we did it. I don't see how you could say it was a failure."

"14 buildings were destroyed, 37 casualties, and 3 deaths, one of which was a civilian."

"If we hadn't closed it who would have?" Miwa's look turned into a full glare. "You can argue this point all you'd like but you'll still be wrong. However, we're not here to debate the success or failure of that August. We are here to decide the fate of two great Spiritualists and I will not let you drown out my voice with questions that only the dead can answer."

Silence fell over the entire room, the quiet so complete that it seemed that nobody was even shifting in their seats. 

"Back to Akaashi-sensei. He is a good spiritualist and a great secondary. During this last incident, he was able to get help and get all civilians out of harm’s way. He was injured protecting civilians not because he’s incompetent, but because he was able to react quickly. He deserves his ranking in the Upper-Tier and I never thought he should be dropped to U3 in the first place. There is no way he should be dropped to Mid-Tier.”

Miwa gave each council member a short, defiant look. 

“Now, if you have any other questions about Akaashi-sensei, I would be more than willing to answer them. Otherwise, that's all I have for you." 

No one in the room spoke and so Miwa bowed and took her seat, though she was still looking intently at the council member who’d argued with her about the August Incident. 

"Alright," the judge spoke after a too-long pause. "I guess that's all for Akaashi-sensei. Unless there's anyone else…" Nobody spoke and so he nodded. "Okay, then next up is the character witness for Hinata Shouyou-sensei. Kageyama Tobio-sensei, please come forward."

Hinata felt his world falling around him when he heard that name. There was no way they were going to get through this after what Tobio would say about him. He just wanted to put his head down and wave a white flag, no really wanting to hear what Tobio would say. 

"How do you know Hinata-sensei?"

"We met in January, but I'd heard of him from my sister and grandfather."

He didn't continue and the judge started, taking a few moments to realize Tobio was going to need more prompting than Miwa had. 

"Umm… did you work with him?"

"No."

Another long silence as the judge blinked at Tobio. 

"How do you know him?" 

"In January Akaashi-sensei called K Family Spiritualism for help after a protection job went wrong. My sister was out of town so I took the call. I met Hinata at the scene." 

"Could you elaborate? What happened?"

"When I arrived, all civilians had been evacuated from the area already. Hinata was alone in the in-between, having sent Akaashi-sensei out to call for help and to facilitate the evacuation. He was facing off with a spirit that was trying to get into The Here. I hit it with an aura attack and banished it. Hinata-sensei had severed his tie with Akaashi-sensei to lower the chance that the spirit would be able to cross over. He had been injured pretty badly. Due to his injury, I closed the small tear that had formed, and then we left, using the teether between Akaashi-sensei and I. Akaashi-sensei took Hinata-sensei to the hospital and I stayed behind to wait for the council's agents."

Hinata was surprised by how even Tobio's voice was, nothing like the angry response he'd gotten yesterday. He thought for sure he'd have already called him a terrible forward or something. 

"What did you think of Hinata-sensei and the event?"

"You want my opinion?"

"Yes, please," the judge seemed ready to shout that that was what Tobio was here for, but he was able to hold himself back. Hinata nearly laughed watching the judge get so frustrated with Tobio's concise answers. 

"I think that Hinata-sensei is reckless, stupid, and poorly trained." Hinata flinched as the other shoe dropped. "He was ill-prepared for the incident and took a direct hit to himself despite being known for his high skill in shields."

Hinata really wanted to put his head down, Akaashi reaching up to pat him on the shoulder.

Then Kageyama continued. 

"Despite all that, Hinata-sensei is a powerful Spiritualist. He is quick both physically and mentally. He was able to raise a protective shield despite being surprised by the attack and while he was ultimately injured no civilian was hurt, which is admirable. He's improved since he was starting out, at least according to my sister, and I believe it. He has no aura and yet he is a good primary with an evolving sense for spirit activity. While he can't attack spirits, he can defend against their attacks and banish them with little effort. He had the presence of mind to send for help before things got more out of hand. He put himself in danger by disconnecting from Akaashi-sensei, but it was done to sever the direct connection between there and The Here, something most spiritualists either wouldn’t think of doing or would be unwilling to do. He was given bad information and had no way of knowing the situation he was walking into." 

Kageyama paused again before he continued.

"Anyone would have been caught off guard by the situation and while he's a reckless, thoughtless, and stupid, he is undeniably a good Spiritualist. That's my opinion.” 

Hinata honestly wasn’t sure whether or not that had been a positive review, but he thought that maybe his luck had turned. 

While the council was deliberating, they were allowed a break. Akaashi had said he needed to talk to someone and had disappeared. Hinata guessed he was looking for Kuroo and Kenma, but he couldn’t be sure. Akaashi knew a lot of spiritualists since he grew up near the capital, but Hinata still felt a little out of place even after over four years of living here. 

Hinata ended up on one of the balconies overlooking the city. It was evening now and with the sun setting on the other side of the building, it was already pretty dark. The River of Souls was prominent in the sky, with the reds of mid-spring burning brightly with some of the late spring orange becoming more obvious. There was a hint of violet leftover from the winter months, but it was fading more and more each night. Strangely, despite yellows being a mark of mid to late summer, there were a few threads of yellow in the river too. 

The entire capital was built on a hill, with this building near the top, so Hinata could look out and see a lot of the city. On clear days, it was possible to see past the city. 

The balcony door opened and someone stepped hesitantly out onto it, their footsteps stuttering as if they didn’t want to be out here. 

“The sky is clear tonight,” Hinata commented. “Like, really clear. Not a cloud in the sky.” 

“Smells like rain, though.” Hinata wasn’t particularly surprised to hear it was Kageyama Tobio. Who else would be so hesitant about talking to him? 

“Takeda-sensei used to say that the smell of rain on a clear night meant there’d be a spirit attack soon.” 

“Is that true?” Tobio asked, his voice sound stiff and a little afraid. 

Hinata laughed, turning to look at Tobio. Surprisingly, it lookeHinatad like he really was worried about Hinata’s words. 

“It’s an old superstition, I don’t think it’s really true. Just like how you’re supposed to throw salt over your shoulder if you knock over a salt shaker.” 

“I’d never heard that before.” 

Hinata laughed again, not expecting Tobio to be the superstitious type, but he seemed fearful of what Hinata was saying.

“Don’t worry, they’re not true… probably.” Hinata sighed, still smiling. “I guess I’m supposed to thank you.”

“I guess.”

“Thanks, then.” Hinata leaned back, looking back up at the sky. “Why’d you do it?”

“What?”

“Why’d you put in a good word for me? I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Tobio told him, sounding cross. “I think you’re an idiot, but I don’t hate you.”

“You don’t make a lot of sense.”

Tobio didn’t respond, simply coming to stand next to Hinata, looking out over the city. 

“Are there a lot of spirits out there tonight?”

Hinata leaned even further back, looking out over the city upside down. 

“Not really, but maybe too many for April. A lot of will-o-wisps. Oh, I think I just saw a spirit dragon too.” 

“And the River of Souls?”

“Pretty normal colors, though the summer colors are a little stronger than usual. It’s hard to say, my sight isn’t very good.” 

“Do you hear anything, then?”

Hinata closed his eyes, listening closely. He was about to say he didn’t hear anything but then a sound reached his ears and he stood up straight, looking around wildly. 

“What?” Tobio asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I just… I heard something.” Hinata closed his eyes, straining his ears but not hearing anything else. “I heard it the other day too, in The In-Between. Like a bird. What are those birds that are in clocks? It sounded like that.” 

“Cuckoos?” 

“Yeah, that’s it. It sounded like that.” Hinata sighed, not hearing anything. He slumped against the railing and finally looked at Tobio for real, surprised that he was looking back. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m hearing things.” 

“DId Takeda-sensei ever tell you anything about cuckoos?”

Hinata shook his head, “Not that I remember.” 

“Well, then, it’s probably nothing.” 

Hianta nodded his head but he wasn’t sure that he believed that. He wasn’t one to take things like safety for granted anymore. Unexplained, possibly spiritual sounds were more than a little worrisome in his opinion. 

“Any reason you came out here?” Hinata asked, relaxing a little bit. 

“I was looking for you,” Tobio mumbled, making Hinata smirk. “My sister told me to apologize.”

“Ah, I see.” 

“And to invite you and Akaashi-sensei to do some training with us. And possibly work on a few jobs together. She still feels bad about the heat you guys took from August…” 

“Well?” Hinata asked, giving Tobio a raised eyebrow.

“Well?”

“You said you came here to do those things, but I haven’t heard you actually give an apology or invited me anywhere.”

Tobio gritted his teeth and as he spoke he sounded almost in pain.

“I’m sorry for being rude yesterday. I still think you’re a dumbass, but I shouldn’t have said what I said about Bokuto-sensei.” Tobio paused, looking genuinely in pain even though all he was doing was being halfway nice to Hinata. If he didn’t find it so funny, Hinata might be offended. “And I’d like to invite you and Akaashi-sensei to work with me and my sister.” 

“I’ll have to ask Akaashi-senpai, but I’m sure he’ll agree. But why are  _ you  _ asking  _ me _ ? Just yesterday, we were barely allowed to talk to each other.” 

“Miwa-chan wanted me to do it since we got off on the wrong shoe or something.” 

“You call her ‘Miwa-chan’?” Hinata giggled, earning him a glare from Tobio that would have been scary a few minutes ago, but now was not very intimidating. Hinata might even dare to say it was kind of cute. 

It was then that Akaashi appeared outside, “It’s time for the ruling. Oh, hello Kageyama-sensei.”

“Kageyama-sensei was telling me that K Family wants to train with us,” Hinata told Akaashi. “How does that sound?”

Akaashi looked at Tobio. “Even if we’re demoted?”

“Yes,” Tobio nodded. “But you won’t be. A backing from the Kageyama family isn’t to be taken lightly.” 

“Good to hear,” Akaashi said. “Well, we should all get back inside. And, Kageyama-sensei, I’m looking forward to working with you, I’m sure there’s a lot I can learn.” 

“You’re more experienced than me,” Tobio insisted. “I’ll be learning from you, I think.”

After a moment something clicked in Hinata’s head. 

“Wait! You’re a Secondary?” 

All three of them stared at each other before Akaashi laughed and Tobio rolled his eyes.

“Dumbass.” 


	5. Chapter 4 - May

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kageyama siblings were as good as their word on two counts and Hinata guessed that was enough to trust them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post! Totally forgot to do it this morning.

In the end, Kageyama Tobio had been right and they hadn’t been demoted. In fact, the council said they would reinstating their U2 ranking if they didn’t have any more incidents this year. 

And, Kageyama Miwa had been serious about them working together because the next week they’d gotten a call asking when they were free. They’d been practicing together every week since then, mostly with Miwa attacking and Hinata defending as a way for him to practice and for her to see how he created and used his shields. 

This week, the first week of May, they were about to get started when Miwa received a call. After a minute or so of annoyed conversation, she sighed and hung up. 

“Sorry to do this, but there’s an issue back at headquarters that I need to deal with now.” 

“Is everything alright?” Akaashi asked. 

“Yeah, it’ll be fine, but they can’t seem to do anything without me. I’ve no idea how Grandpa dealt with this.”

“Well, in that case, maybe we should just cancel this,” Akaashi said. “I wasn’t feeling well today, to begin with.”

“No need for that,” Miwa replied, smiling. “Hinata-kun and Tobio can practice together instead. They’re capable of practicing without us, I think.”

“Oh, that’s a good point.”

“Wait,” Tobio cut in, only for Miwa to talk over him.

“You need to practice with other Primaries, Tobio. And maybe you can learn a little something from Hinata-kun’s shields.” 

“My shields are fine,” he grumbled but didn’t move to pack up his bag. 

Hinata wasn’t sure how he felt about staying to work with Tobio alone, but he was already outvoted so he decided that practice was practice at the end of the day. How bad could it be?

It had been pretty bad. Hinata had thought he was prepared for a tough practice after training with Bokuto, but at least Bokuto had some sense of when the other person was about to collapse. Tobio either didn’t notice or didn’t care because, by the time the finished, Hinata felt like he was going to throw up, pass out, or both.

“You’re insane,” Hinata told him when they sat down for a late lunch together. 

“What?”

“I thought you’d never stop?”

“Me?” Tobio looked at Hinata liked he’d grown an extra head. “You’re the one who wouldn’t stop.”

“No, you were!” 

“I’m the secondary, I was just following your lead.” 

“You’re the one who told me I wasn’t fit to lead, so I was following you.” 

They glared at each other but then their waiter came to give them the menus and Hinata realized he’d have to pick something to eat. And he’d have to eat it if he didn’t want Tobio to think he was weak. Or weaker than he probably already thought he was. 

“What are you getting?” Hinata asked, looking at one unappetizing option after another. He just really wasn’t hungry. He hadn’t been hungry for a while now. 

“Don’t know.” 

Hinata looked up and was surprised to find that Tobio had a familiar look in his eyes. It wasn’t just that it looked like the look in Akaashi’s eyes, but instead, it was the look Hinata saw when he looked in the mirror. But, of course, Tobio had lost someone too, so maybe he actually would be one of the only people who’d understand. 

“Me neither.” 

Tobio looked up and they met each other’s eyes for a moment before Tobio looked back down at the menu. 

“Is it supposed to hurt for this long?” 

“I don’t know, but it sure does hurt.” 

“He was my best friend.” Tobio scowled like he didn’t want to be speaking. Still, he continued. “He and my sister were probably my only friends.”

“When I was younger my only friends were spirits,” Hinata admitted.

“You were friends with spirits?” Tobio asked, looking incredulous. 

“I still am. I’d think with your sight, spirits would always want to hang out with you too.” 

Tobio shook his head, looking a little upset. “Spirits are afraid of me. My sister once told me it was because I looked at them too directly or something. Anyway, these days, I can’t really see spirits.”

“You can’t?”

“My sight was too strong, I couldn’t see anything,” Tobio explained. “I have to dampen it to be able to see The Here.” 

“Can you, like, see straight into The In-Between.”

Tobio nodded, “During times of high spiritual activity, I can see shadows of The Reflection too.” 

“That sounds like it sucks.” 

“It’s really not that bad,” Tobio shrugged. “Though when I first came to help you in January, the dampening meant I almost didn’t notice you in The In-Between.”

“I guess not having an aura makes it hard to find me.”

“That wasn’t the only reason.”

They were both quiet, Hinata unable to look at Tobio. Finally, he spoke slowly and quietly, a question he’d had since April finally coming to the surface.

“Why didn’t you tell The Council what I did?”

“You know the current stance on fully entering The In-Between.” 

“That’s exactly why you should have told them.”

“I didn’t think you were wrong.” Hinata looked up at Tobio. “It was dangerous, but it was smart. You made sure to keep yourself from being a bridge into The Here. It wasn’t something you would do on a whim, but you didn’t know what was going to happen. You didn’t know if help would come in time. You’re a dumbass, but that was smart.” 

“I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s whatever.” Tobio looked away now. “How’d you learn to do that, anyway?”

“Bokuto-sensei taught me. He always said that it was important to know how to do it, just in case. I don’t think he ever expected me to need to use it. I don’t think he expected me to even be able to do it, honestly, since it’s pretty difficult for most Spiritualists. But because I don’t have an aura, it’s actually easier for me to fully enter The In-Between.” 

“How’d you get hurt in January?”

“You know I need time to catch my breath when I move between The Here and The In-Between.” That wasn’t a question, Tobio had seen it when they practiced together. “It’s harder on my body when I fully move over. I wasn’t able to protect myself when I first fully entered and the spirit got the upper hand.” 

Tobio once again fell silent, looking upset about something. 

“I’m glad you ended up being okay. It would have… I guess I’m glad I got to work with you and Akaashi-sensei.”

“Ah,” Hinata wasn’t sure how to respond, not expecting Tobio’s words in the slightest. “Kageyama-sensei… Thank you.” 

“Quit it with the titles,” Tobio said with an eye-roll, “Akaashi-san and Miwa-chan don’t use them.”

“Kageyama-san then?” 

“We’re the same age,” he pointed out. “And you should probably call Miwa-chan ‘Kageyama-san.’” 

“Kageyama-kun?”

“If that’s fine with you.”

Hinata smiled, “That’s totally fine with me.” 

Tobio still wasn’t looking at Hinata, looking nervous and embarrassed making Hinata think about how he said he didn’t have any non-family friends, not even spirits like Hinata had had.

“Hey, if you want, I have some spirit friends at home you could meet. If I’m there, they won’t be afraid of you.”

Tobio’s cheeks turned a surprising shade of pink, “That sounds okay, Hinata-kun.” 

Hinata’s smile widened, “then we can head over together.” 

“You know it’s crazy that you let spirits live in your house,” Tobio told Hinata as they climbed the stairs to Hinata and Akaashi’s apartment. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But I’ve been friends with them since I was really little. I know I can trust them.” He unlocked the door and saw that Akaashi was, once again, asleep on the couch. “Ah, give me a second.”

Tobio looked uncomfortable as Hinata went to put Akaashi in his real bed, though there didn’t seem to be any judgment in his eyes. Maybe there was understanding. 

When that was done, Hinata gestured for Tobio to follow him to his bedroom. Sometimes S _ an’nin-no-tomodachi _ met him at the door, but today they hadn’t, maybe because of Tobio’s presence. 

“Hello,” Hinata called when he opened his door. “S _ anoto _ ?” 

When Hinata spotted them, S _ an’nin-no-tomodachi _ were staring at his window, motionless and uninterested in greeting Hinata. He didn’t see anything at the window, but the way they were staring at it worried him. 

“Hey, guys, what are you doing?”

Next to him, Tobio stiffened and when Hinata looked at him, he found that Tobio’s normally blue eyes had turned silver, matching the color of his aura. 

“Kageyama…?” Hinata reached out and touched Tobio’s arm, causing him to flinch. “What’s wrong?”

“There something at your window. It’s in The Reflection, but I think it can see into The Here.” 

“ _ Sanota _ , do you see it too?” 

Finally, the spirits spoke to him, but they didn’t turn. 

“It is watching you,  _ Kiku-no-yujin _ , it has been watching for a long time now. We only now noticed it, but it’s been here for a long time.” 

“What is it?” Hinata asked, not sure who he was asking. “Is it a cuckoo?” 

“No,” Tobio said. “It’s… it’s…” His eyes widened. “It’s an owl.” 

“Really?” Hinata shouted. “Really?” 

“Yeah.”

Hinata didn’t think, he just closed his eyes and focused on The In-Between, throwing his soul into the realm without warning Tobio. He considered going all the way over but decided against it since he didn’t want to completely terrify anyone. 

Once he stopped gasping for breath, Hinata looked around his room wildly, running to the window and looking out. He found he couldn’t see anything, but he thought he might be able to sense something. He might be able to open a tear into The Reflection if he entered The In-Between fully, but he wasn’t sure if it would work. 

He couldn’t think as he slammed back into his body, gasping for a moment as Tobio said something to him and then he threw his entire body into The In-Between, his breathing ragged as he did, but his mind too numb to care. 

He ran to the window and was about to try and tear open a path when someone grabbed him, pulling him away from the window. He looked and saw it was Akaashi, though he had no idea where he’d come from. 

“What are you doing?” Akaashi shouted. “Are you crazy?” 

“There’s an owl in The Reflection!” Hinata shouted back. “What if it’s related to Bokuto-sensei?” 

“Koutarou is dead, Shouyou, what could it be related to?” 

“We never found his body, maybe he’s not dead!” 

“Shouyou, he’s dead!” Akaashi’s voice was torn and lost, his eyes on the verge of tears as he shook his head. “This could be a trick.” 

“What if it’s not,” Hinata said, knowing how pathetic he sounded. “What if it’s him?” 

“Shouyou,” Akaashi wrapped his arms around Hinata. “You know he wouldn’t do it like this. He’d never want you to open a path. His presence wouldn’t frighten the spirits. It’s not him.” 

Hinata was the one to start crying first as Akaashi reached out and widened the opening back into The Here, dragging Hinata back through and into his room. Just before he crossed over, Hinata turned back to the window and he thought he heard something. 

Then they were back in The Here and Hinata was gasping for breath, unable to catch his breath. He coughed, nearly throwing up from the force of the coughs, while Akaashi patted him on the back. When he was finally able to take a real breath, Akaashi pulled him into another hug without saying a word. 

Tobio was still in the room, watching from the doorway with fear and understanding in his eyes.  _ San’in-no-tomodachi _ were still staring at the window, looking like they were trying to scare the spirit away. Hinata couldn’t stop crying, not realizing he still had so many tears left until this moment. 

He wouldn’t realize until later that the sound he’d heard was the call of a cuckoo bird.


	6. Chapter 5 - June 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata was nervous, for sure, but more than that he was confused why he was asked to go with Tobio on an out of town job.

Hinata felt nervous and unable to sit still, earning him a glare from Tobio, who was sitting across from him on the train. They were headed to a city in the next province for a job and Hinata wasn’t really sure why he was the one chosen to go with Tobio. 

The K Family had received a call from a distant relative of Tobio and Miwa’s grandmother asking to have a look around their farm. Apparently, one of their fields had died off suddenly and they suspected a spiritual cause.

Miwa couldn’t leave the capital because of another big job that needed to be attended to, but she also didn’t want to make the customers upset by sending someone who wasn’t a blood-related member of K Family Spiritualism.

So, Tobio had been asked to go and for reasons beyond Hinata, he’d been asked to accompany Tobio as his Primary. 

Thinking about it again made his stomach flip uncomfortably and then he stood up in a rush, nearly falling over. 

“I need to use the bathroom.” 

“Again?” Tobio raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Shut up,” Hinata told him before rushing to the bathroom. 

He’d made it to the bathroom okay and, feeling a little better headed back to his seat. But as he stepped from one train car to the next he nearly fell over, gasping for breath. He stood up straighter and looked around, knowing the feeling of entering The In-Between well. He hadn’t been trying to enter, but as he checked around himself, he found that that was exactly where he was. 

Fear coursed through his body, his mind unable to understand how he could have slipped into The In-Between by accident. 

He looked toward where he’d come from and saw his body was still there, but he’d collapsed. The good news was that he hadn’t fully entered The In-Between. The bad news was that he’d never seen himself collapse like that while in The In-Between. 

For the first time, he realized just how quickly time seemed to move for people in The Here compared to him in The In-Between. People looked like ghosts from his view and they were almost moving in fast-forward.

Someone was checking his pulse and then shouting for help, sounding incredibly distant even to Hinata’s sharp ears. Someone else picked him up and began to head toward the front of the train. Tobio saw him and stopped them. 

He talked to them and then Hinata’s body was laid out across the seats with Tobio sitting on the floor in front of him, legs folded under him. His eyes turned silver and he reached a hand out to touch Hinata. 

For a moment nothing happened, but then Hinata felt something tugging on him and he let himself be pulled forward, toward his body, and back into The Here. 

He took a painful breath and began to cough as he tried to sit up, only for Tobio to push him back down. 

“Wait. Take some deep breaths,” He commanded and Hinata followed his instructions, taking a few breaths without speaking. 

There were still a few people watching him, looking concerned. Tobio didn’t look concerned, but Hinata thought that might simply be due to him not wanting the bystanders to think anything was going on. 

“I’m okay now,” Hinata said, finally sitting up after about a minute of lying still. “Sorry for worrying everyone.” 

The bystanders asked a few questions before they finally dispersed and only then did Tobio get off the ground, sitting next to Hinata instead of across from him. He didn’t look at Hinata when he spoke, his voice low and dangerous. 

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Hey! Before you attack me maybe you could let me explain what happened!” 

Tobio’s face was sour but he nodded, “Fine, what the fuck happened?” 

“You have such a foul mouth,” Hinata complained. “How has Miwa-san not scrubbed your mouth with soap?” 

“Oh shut up, you’re just as bad.” Tobio sighed and seemed to relax a little, “Really. What happened?”

“I was coming back from the bathroom and when I stepped between the train cars I just… I don’t know how it happened, but I just ended up in The In-Between.” Hinata knitted his eyebrows together. “I really have no idea how it happened. It’s never happened before.” 

Tobio still looked worried but he nodded and crossed his arms. 

“Okay. I guess there’s nothing we can do.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” 

Hinata waited for Tobio to move back to the other side but he didn’t and so Hinata shrugged to himself and pulled out his phone. Tobio didn’t move for the rest of the time, eventually falling asleep and slowly leaning further and further over until he was laying against Hinata, leaving him unable to use his left arm. 

He decided if he couldn’t beat him, he’d join him and fell asleep himself. 

The relatives were much younger than Hinata expected. Hearing they were farmers he’d, for some reason, expected them to be an older couple living a lonely but happy life far out in the country. Instead, it was two young men maybe around Akaashi or Miwa’s age. 

Then again, Tobio and Hinata were probably not what they were expecting either. They were a mismatched pair of young spiritualists, to say the least. Tobio wore what could be described as business casual clothes and sneakers while Hinata was wearing the traditional garb he always wore on jobs. They appeared to be from different eras entirely and, on top of that, they had to seem too young to be on a job like this by themselves. 

“Nice to meet you,” one of them greeted, the one with light-colored hair. “I’m Sugawara Koushi and this is Sawamura Daichi. Thank you for coming on such short notice.” 

“It’s our job,” Tobio said and so Hinata jumped in. 

“He means, it’s our pleasure.” He gave Tobio a look that he hoped he’d understand. “I’m Hinata Shouyou, by the way. You already know Kageyama Tobio-sensei.” Why don’t we take a look at the area you called about.”

“Okay, Hinata-sensei.” Sugawara smiled at them. “Follow us.”

The farm was rather large considering only two people seemed to work there and Sugwara explained they had some other people who worked the fields with them, but they weren’t here at the moment. One of them was easily affected by spirits, so Sugawara and Sawamura didn’t want to chance anything until this was taken care of. 

Hinata had been a little skeptical about this being spirit related until they arrive at the spot they’d called about and he found that the crops had not just died, but had done so in a perfect circle. 

“That can’t be good,” Hinata murmured to Tobio. “Have you ever seen anything like this?”

Tobio shook his head and stepped forward, his blue eyes once again switching to silver as he looked around the area. 

“When did this happen?” Tobio asked. 

“About two weeks ago.”

“On the new moon?” Hinata asked. 

“Oh, I guess so,” Sugawara confirmed. “I didn’t really think about it, but yeah.” 

“New moons in The Here mean full moons in The Reflection,” Hinata explained. “Spirits are more powerful during that time which means it’s easier for them to get into The In-Between or even into The Here.”

“Do you think something got through?” 

Hinata looked at Tobio for the answer, not sure what to think. 

“No, not yet. Something probably opened a portal into The In-Between and spirits have been escaping from The Reflection. I’d say the portal exactly where this circle is.” 

“Then I guess we need to close it,” Hinata said with a smile. 

“Yep, looks like it.” Tobio nodded. “But first, let’s get you two somewhere safe.” 

Once the protections on the couple’s house had been checked, Tobio and Hinata headed back to the possible portal. 

“What are you thinking?” Hinata asked, feeling negativity coming off of Tobio. 

“I’m… not sure.” 

“You were lying, weren’t you,” Hinata finally said. “You’ve seen this before.”

“I’ve heard of it, from my grandpa.” Tobio refused to look at Hinata. “It was a job like this that killed my grandma.” 

Hinata didn’t know what to say. He never realized how much spirit-related death there was in the Kageyama family. Both grandparents. The siblings’ father only a year after Tobio was born. A cousin originally meant to take their grandfather’s place as head of the family. Hinata didn’t know if there was more he still hadn’t heard about, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for the family. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Blessed by silver, cursed by gold,” Tobio said. 

“Huh?”

“That’s what my mom said. The god of silver blessed the Kageyama family with silver auras but the god of gold was jealous of the attention the family got so they cursed the family with a curse of death.” 

“Oh.”

“It’s just a story.”

“If you say so.” 

Tobio stopped about 300 meters away from the circle and Hinata walked a few paces ahead of him before he noticed.

“What are we doing here?”

“We’re going to start here and walk toward the circle once your spirit is in The In-Between. We don’t know what’s going to be near the portal and you need a few seconds to recover when you enter. I don’t want you getting jumped.”

“That makes sense,” Hinata agreed. “But what about my body.”

“I’ll carry you.”

“What?”

“Before you go in you’ll get on my back and I’ll walk forward with you,” Tobio told him like that wasn’t an insane suggestion. “Let’s start.”

“Wait, wait, wait, I’m still a little stuck on you carrying me. How exactly are you going to do that and concentrate on being a secondary?” 

“Trust me,” Tobio said, looking at Hinata, his eyes clear and certain.

Hinata wanted to argue, but in the end, he nodded. 

“Okay. I trust you.” 

Getting into position took longer than usual as they tried to figure out how to situate Hinata on Tobio’s back. It seemed very silly, but Hinata didn’t have a better plan at this point so he decided to at least give it a try. 

“Okay,” Tobio said. “I’m ready. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Okay, then you can go.”

“Okay.” Hinata closed his eyes and eased himself into The In-Between, hoping to minimize his difficulty. He was able to do so, but there were still a few seconds of coughing before he regained his composure. “Okay, I’m moving forward.” 

Hinata didn’t wait for a response, just moving toward the portal slowly. He could sense it fully now and he realized that, horrifyingly, portal was the right word. Small tears weren’t uncommon in The In-Between, both between The Here and The Reflection, but this wasn’t just a tear. It wasn’t even a large tear, that was obvious based on its perfect shape that matched the dead spot in the field. 

Hinata had never seen a purposefully made portal of this kind, but he’d heard about them and the size of this one was frightening. This could allow some incredibly large spirits through where they could wait for an opportunity into The Here.

And opportunity just like him and Tobio. 

“Can you watch out for spirits I’m not seeing?” Hinata asked Tobio, accepting that his spiritual vision was leagues better. 

Tobio didn’t respond, but Hinata assumed he’d hear him. If not, he had to hope that Tobio would be watching out regardless. 

As they got within 100 meters of the portal, Hinata began to see small, but ultimately harmless, spirits floating in the air or scurrying past his feet. He didn’t stop to banish them, not interested in stopping them. Small spirits could be a nuisance, but they weren’t particularly dangerous. It would be a waste of energy to banish them before he closed the source. 

50 meters away, Hinata paused and took a long look around, trying to pinpoint anything dangerous. The issue with all the little spirits was that it made it harder to pinpoint any strong spiritual forces, especially if those spirits were trying to hide. 

He decided to trust his eyes and ear and made it the rest of the way to the portal, inspecting it for a few moments. He could see through it, assumedly into The Reflection, and he was surprised to see that there seemed to be nighttime there. Also, he thought he could see The River and the colors were that of greens and blue, marking the time to be late fall or early winter. 

A shadow passed over the opening, still in The Reflection, and Hinata felt his blood run cold. It had been a large shadow and he didn’t think he wanted to meet whatever that thing was. 

He did his best not to rush as he closed the portal, but he just really wanted it closed. He couldn’t tell how long it took, but he felt himself getting more and more tired as the portal shrunk. Then, just as it seemed to be nearly gone, a small shadow exploded from the portal and then another, both flying up into the air as Hinata finally was able to close the portal. 

Hinata danced backward, trying to find the things that had flown out of the portal, but he was having trouble because only now was he realizing that however long it had taken him to close the portal, it had been long enough that it was starting to get dark. 

“Something’s here,” Hinata called, getting in a defensive position. He wanted to immediately raise a shield, but with his low energy, he wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to keep on up. “I don’t know where it went.” 

Kageyama’s voice sounded far away, but the words came through clearly nonetheless. 

“One to you left and one to your right. Both in front of you.” 

As if on command, both figures stood simultaneously. In the low-light of the quickly falling night, Hinata couldn’t see a lot of detail, but he could see enough. 

The spirits stood at about one meter tall and were covered in feathers. They looked to be a light brown color on one side and white on the other. Their heads were that of a bird, but their bodies seemed to be caught halfway between a bird and a humanoid. It had no arms, just wings, but its legs were a little too long and thick for the kind of bird it seemed to be imitating. 

“Hinata-kun, come back through!” Tobio shouted his fear coming through despite his voice’s distant quality. 

“I can’t, these are too dangerous to leave. I think… I think they could open another portal.”

One of the spirits, the one on the right, cocked its head to the side, staring at Hinata intently. The other opened it’s beak and made a sound unlike the cuckoo sounds that had been haunting Hinata, but he could somehow tell those had come from one of these creatures, or at least something like it. The sound was metallic and rattling, that almost sounded un-birdlike, sounding sort of like the sound you’d hear a creature make in a monster movie. 

Then they moved. They were so much faster than Hinata could have imagined, both of them swooping in at the same time. 

Hinata put up a shield on his left side and held out his right hand toward the head-tilting one. Just as it would have made contact, Hinata concentrated and shot out a bundle of energy, catching the bird off-guard. 

The bird screeched and disappeared, Hinata’s banishment having worked. 

The other bird slammed into his shield and went bouncing away, though it was back on its feet quickly, Hinata’s shield dissolving as he ran out of energy. He had enough energy for one, maybe two, more banishments and that was it. If he didn’t get this thing banished soon, he was likely a goner. 

He could feel Tobio tugging on their connection, but he refused the request. If he left now, this thing could follow him out. It was fast and he feared that it could get away from them before either of them could do anything but watch. 

The bird was still on his left which meant he could use his arm to shield himself from its attack, hopefully luring it in close enough for an easy banishment. 

“Come get me!” Hinata screamed at the spirit, not sure what level of sentience it had, but not caring because it worked and the bird came flying back at him, feet raised to reveal talons that were too sharp for a bird of this type. 

His arm was raised to protect his face and the bird took the bait, digging into his arm with one leg. He began to reach around with his right hand, but the bird’s other foot appeared and scratched across his face, sending him to the ground and sending his banishment attack into the sky. 

For what felt like an eternity, Hinata could move, the pain in his arm and face too much for him. He wondered briefly if this was what Bokuto had felt or if it had been worse. 

Then Hinata jumped to his feet, quickly forced to dive back to the ground to get out of the way of another attack. He caught a glimpse of Tobio, who had put Hinata down and had both his hands hovering over him, one over his heart and the other over his forehead. 

On cue, power trickled through their connection and Hinata was able to raise his hand one more time as the bird approached, diving toward him. He prayed that this was enough to banish the spirit and then he let go. 

It was a direct hit and yet the bird kept coming, slamming into Hinata’s chest and tearing painfully at him. His scream mixed in with a screech from the creature and it finally disappeared, returning to where it came from. 

Hinata coughed, unable to get up anymore.

“Hey, Kageyama,” Hinata’s voice was weak, but he was certain Tobio could hear him. “I’d like to come back now.”

Then he blacked out.


	7. Chapter 6 - June 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata needs to rest.

Hinata came-to in a dim and unfamiliar room, the events leading him here a little fuzzy as he blinked at the strange place. 

He turned his head and found first an empty room to his right and then a sleeping figure to his left. For a moment he thought it was Akaashi, but then he remembered how he got here and the figure became more clear. 

Tobio was kind of cute when he slept, despite a distinctly concerned look to his face. His hair fell a little into his eyes and his crossed arms looked less antisocial and more like he was a little cold. 

Hinata was thinking about waking Tobio up when he heard a tapping sound to his right. Turning quickly, he saw there was a crow at the window, tapping its beak on the glass. Fear flowed through him, but then the crow came more into focus and he saw it was wearing a spiritualist’s tag around its neck. 

Hinata attempted to swing his legs over the side of the bed, but he found himself too weak to do even that, so instead, he reached over and gave Tobio’s arm a light tug. 

Tobio woke like he’d been burned, looking around for a threat before he went back to his more calm self. 

“Hinata-kun!” Tobio exclaimed when he saw Hinata was awake. “You’re okay!” 

“Happy to see you were worried,” Hinata responded with a smirk, though his voice was much weaker than he expected. “Am I gonna’ get in trouble again?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Tobio responded, the vehemence Hinata had seen in Miwa revealing itself in Tobio. “Well, not with the council, at least. Akaashi-san sounded pissed on the phone.” 

“Well, shit.”

“I was going to yell at you for being stupid, but I’ll let him do it.”

Hinata laughed, “I guess I should thank you for sparing me.” 

“It was really reckless,” Tobio said anyway, though his voice wasn’t angry when he said it. It sounded… soft. “You got really hurt. You could’ve been killed.”

“I couldn’t let them go.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“I know.” 

Tobio was frowning at his lap so Hinata reached out again, putting his hand on Tobio’s forearm. 

“Thanks for the power boost, I would’ve been dead without that.” 

“You’re lucky I’m a source.”

It wasn’t a rule that every person’s aura was a sink or a source, but generally, people fell into one of the two categories. Sources could give their aura energy and sinks could accept it. Hinata, being aura-less, was a pure sink. Akaashi was a nearly pure sink while Bokuto was a nearly pure source. Usually, sinks were primaries and sources were secondaries, but there was nothing usual about Bokuto. Or about Akaashi, for that matter. 

“Guess so.” Hinata suddenly remembered the spirit outside. “Hey, could you let the spirit at the window in? I think it’s for me.”

“Excuse me?” Tobio sounded in disbelief as his eyes went silver, their focus turning toward the window. “I’m not just letting a spirit in, are you crazy? That’s a bird, too! After our trouble with birds, you really want to let it in?”

“Calm down, asshole,” Hinata rolled his eyes. “Look at its neck. I think it’s from Ukai-sensei.”

“Oh.” 

Tobio left Hinata’s bed to open the window, the crow spirit flying directly toward Hinata and landing on his lap, seeming to glare at him. When it opened its beak, Ukai Keishin’s voice came from it. 

“Hinata-kun, is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Hinata responded, aware he was likely about to get told off. He just hoped Takeda wasn’t waiting for his turn to yell at him. 

“Akaashi-kun called and told us what happened. Are you stupid?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” 

“Like hell, you didn’t. You should’ve gotten out of there the moment you saw those things.”

“And let them escape? They could’ve opened another portal.”

“Quit arguing with me, kid, or I’m going to get Sensei in here.”

Hinata shivered, not wanting to hear what Takeda would say–he and Ukai had been married for years now, but Ukai still called him ‘sensei’ like he had when they first met–about all this. He had to hear from him after his incident in January so he knew what it meant. 

“You don’t have to do that, I’ll listen.”

“I told yah to go to the city to improve your skills, not to get yourself killed. But it seems like everyone there is a bad influence on you because nobody is stopping you from doing all this bullshit. First Bokuto-kun teaches you to fully enter The In-Between and now the damn K-Family is encouraging you to try out dangerous jobs you kids have no right getting involved in.” 

“But–”

“I’m not done, boy.” 

“Sorry.”

“You’re going to worry your mother into an early grave doing these things. Natsu-chan is half ready to bring you home herself. You need to stop being so reckless.” Hinata could see Tobio smirking at him. “Okay, I’m done.” 

“In my defense, I was being backed by a very good secondary,” Hinata said and out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Tobio’s cheeks redden. “I was just trusting him like you and Takeda-sensei taught me to.”

“That’s different,” Ukai grumbled. 

“Secondly… I had to do something. Those things…” Hinata took a deep breath. “They’ve been following me. Or something like them. I’ve heard their calls before today even though I didn’t see them.”

“What?”

“When I’ve been in The In-Between, I’ll hear a bird call. I won’t see anything, but I can hear it clearly. The things that came out of the portal were similar, though maybe not the same. The sound they made… It was similar,” he repeated. “They sound like cuckoos.” 

“I don’t know about cuckoos, but… How much do you know about the spirit attack that happened when you were born?”

Tobio was staring intently at Hinata, but Hinata couldn’t look away from the crow. 

“No much. Just that it happened. That Ukai-hakase thought that’s why I don’t have an aura. That’s about it.” 

“That’s not all, but nobody really knows what anything means. The spirits who attacked were all bird-like in appearance and they seemed to be trying to get to you. When your mother was examined during her pregnancy, spiritualists were convinced you would have a strong aura like the rest of your family. Even stranger, you were born holding a gold feather.” 

“Hinata-kun,” Takeda Issei’s voice suddenly cut in. “If you have bird spirits after you again, I don’t know if you’ll be safe in the city. You should come home.”

“Sensei, he probably won’t be safe anywhere if that’s true.” 

Hinata’s mind was still stuck on Ukai’s statement that he was supposed to be born with a golden aura. He’d always assumed his aura-lessness was just his lot in life, but hearing that he would have been like the rest of his family hurt in a way he didn’t expect it to. 

“Excuse me, this is Kageyama Tobio,” Tobio spoke quietly. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but do you mind me asking a question?”

Hinata was momentarily shocked by the politeness of his voice before remembering that he sounded the same when he talked to Akaashi. 

“Oh, Kageyama-sensei, didn’t know you were here,” Ukai said. “Sure, go ahead. And thanks for keeping Hinata-kun safe.”

“It’s my job,” Tobio explained, making Hinata smile. “But, what happened to the feather? The gold feather.”

“It’s here in our hometown,” Ukai responded. “It’s kept in the local shrine.” 

“I think… That might be important. I think Hinata-kun should keep it on him.” 

“Hmm, you could be onto something there,” Takeda agreed. “We’ll see if there’s a way to get it to Hinata-kun.” 

“Hinata-kun, we’ll let you rest,” Ukai said with a sigh. “But we’ll be in touch.” 

“Okay… sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” Ukai insisted, though his voice betrayed his real feelings on the matter. 

“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Takeda added sweetly, sounding a little more genuine than his partner. “Get some rest, okay?”

“I will.”

“He will,” Tobio said at the same time, earning him a glare from Hinata and a laugh from Takeda. 

“Okay then, I guess that’s all we can ask,” Takeda laughed again. “Goodnight, you two.” 

Then the crow took off and swept out of the hospital room without making another sound, leaving Tobio and Hinata alone in the quiet, dim room. Before either of them could speak a nurse appeared, looking surprised to see Hinata awake before turning the lights up a little. 

“Alright now, Kageyama-san, he’s awake. Will you leave now? It’s long past the end of visiting hours.” 

“Aww, you were waiting for me to wake up?”

“Shut up,” Tobio mumbled, standing up and grabbing his small overnight bag from the floor. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Hinata responded, waving at Tobio left the room. 

With a sigh he leaned back, fatigue and pain overtaking his body all at once. Even with the nurse there asking him questions, it wasn’t long before he fell back asleep. 

While his injuries had visibly healed after about two weeks, Hinata still felt like shit. Physically, his injuries manifested as bruises, but the damage done to his spirit was much deeper. He’d been attacked while only his spirit was in The In-Between so he’d been spared any terrible physical injuries, but it would take him a while to completely heal. 

So, now that it was the end of June he was no longer on strict bed rest, but he also wasn’t allowed to go back to work until July at the earliest. Which meant he was basically on bed rest. 

He spent most of his time studying and researching. Hinata had never been a good student, but when it came to things he was interested in, like spiritualism, he could really apply himself. He’d decided to use his time out of the field trying to learn more about portals, evil spirits, and the Reflection. 

The first two were relatively easy to find information about, but it turned out that there wasn’t much known about the Reflection. Over two hundred years earlier a few people apparently entered the Reflection on purpose, but none of them ever returned. In ancient writings, there were stories of people returning from trips to the Reflection, but it was hard to tell if those were true or not. 

While deep in a book about portals, the doorbell rang and Hinata heard Akaashi going to the door. Since Hinata was out of commission, Akaashi was working as a substitute around the city. He mostly did jobs with K-Family and with his friend Kenma and Kuroo, but occasionally he got calls from other groups in need of an extra secondary. 

“Shouyou, it’s for you,” Akaashi called.

“Coming,” Hinata responded, wondering if Natsu had arrived already. He wasn’t expecting her until tomorrow, but maybe she’d made good time. 

It wasn’t Natsu. 

At the door was Tobio, dressed in street clothes and looking uncomfortable in the entryway, his hands stuck deep in his pockets. He was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt that complimented his eyes. His hair had been nearly styled and Hinata almost laughed, pretty sure that had been Miwa’s doing and not Tobio’s. 

“Hey?” Hinata greeted, feeling underdressed in his PJs, but not sure what he was underdressed for. “What’s up?”

“Get dressed, we’re going out,” Tobio responded gruffly, not making eye contact with Hinata or Akaashi.

“Wait, what?” 

“Akaashi-sensei told Miwa-chan that you barely leave your room anymore so she told me to do something fun with you.” Hinata looked at Akaashi with a raised eyebrow while Tobio was talking. “So get dressed.” 

Hinata rolled his eyes, “You’re such a romantic, Kageyama-kun.” 

Tobio’s cheeks turned much redder than Hinata expected, making him smirk. 

“Shut up, asshole.” 

“Watch out, if you talk like that in front of Akaashi-senpai, he might tell Miwa-san.”

“I am not to blame here,” Akaashi said with a smirk of his own, walking away toward the kitchen. “Have fun, you two. And if Natsu-chan comes early, I’ll call.” 

“Your sister is coming?” Tobio asked before Hinata could leave to get dressed. 

“To bring the feather,” he explained. 

“I see.”

“Well, I guess I don’t have a choice right now, so give me a minute.” 

“Okay.”

Hinata left to get dressed, leaving Tobio to stand alone in their entryway, looking like a kid waiting to go on their first date, though Hinata wasn’t sure why he seemed so nervous. 

“Oh, and Kageyama-kun?”

“What?”

“You look nice,” Hinata said with a smile that turned into a laugh when Tobio’s face got even redder. 

It turned out that Tobio had no plans for the day, having been put up to this task by his sister. Hinata almost felt bad, worried he was bothering Tobio more than he should. 

They ended up at a planetarium for reasons Hinata was unclear on. Neither of them had really suggested it, but they happened to pass it and, having no better ideas, went inside. There was a small museum portion in addition to the planetarium so, after buying tickets for the next show, they headed around the exhibits. 

It wasn’t especially large, but there were a lot of interactive exhibits that Tobio was surprisingly fascinated by. 

There was one that showed how masses distorted space-time that Tobio spent a good ten minutes interacting with while Hinata just watched him. Tobio had something close to a smile on his lips, his eyes sharp and focused. At that moment, Hinata was shocked to find that Tobio was incredibly handsome. 

A piece of Tobio’s hair kept falling into his face and Tobio kept reaching up to swipe it back into place, the movement simple but strangely endearing. Rummaging around in his pocket, Hinata found a hairclip and walked closer to Tobio, reaching out and clipping the stray hair back. Tobio turned a little toward Hinata, his face red. 

“Much better, right?” Hinata asked, smiling. 

“Yeah,” Tobio mumbled, looking back down. “Thanks.” 

“Do you understand all this?” Hinata asked, not stepping out of Tobio’s personal space. “Like I get stars and planets, but this stuff seems confusing.” 

“This stuff? You mean space-time?” Hinata nodded. “Yeah, I kind of understand it. I’m not an expert, but I guess I’ve read a lot of books about it.” 

“Explain it to me, then.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know you were interested in… well, I didn’t know what you were interested in, honestly. I want to hear about it.” 

“Okay.”

Now Tobio did smile, looking fondly at the display in front of them as he launched into an explanation that made very little sense to Hinata. Still, he enjoyed watching Tobio speak with that smile on his face, a smile Hinata had never seen before. 

When it came time to go to the planetarium show, Hinata had come to the conclusion that Tobio was unfairly attractive when he smiled. 

“Have you been here before?” Hinata asked once they were seated. 

“Yeah, but not in a long time.” Tobio was looking straight up. “Grandpa used to take me when I was little, especially after Grandma died. My mom had to work so my grandparents watched me as a baby. Miwa-chan also spent a lot of time with them, but she… I didn’t know our dad so that never really hurt, but Grandma had helped raise me.”

“How old were you?” 

“Eight.” 

An announcement came on saying the show would start in a minute and Hinata cursed their timing. That wasn’t enough time. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“It’s in the past.”

“It can still hurt.”

Tobio looked at Hinata, his eyes vulnerable, and then the lights fell and the show began. For a moment it was pitch black and Hinata grabbed Tobio’s hand, his impulse control having not improved since he was 6. When it was bright enough to see a little, Tobio was still looking at Hinata. Hinata’s ears were ringing, unable to listen to the announcer’s voice, his entire mind focused on Tobio. 

Then Tobio half-sat up and leaned over, kissing Hinata quickly before flopping back down, his eyes fixed on the show, leaving Hinata with a very red face. He was sure his hand was sweating a lot, but Tobio didn’t let go and so neither did he. 

He wasn’t able to pay attention very well to the show. 

They didn’t talk much after the show ended. Hinata wasn’t sure what Tobio was thinking about, but his mind was turning over what had happened today and how much farther it had gone than he expected. Sure, he’d been flirting a little bit, but it had initially been more in jest than anything else. At least, that’s what he’d told himself. 

Tobio had insisted on walking him back to his and Akaashi’s apartment, saying Hinata was still injured and shouldn’t be walking around at night by himself. When they did get to the front door, though, Tobio lingered, as did Hinata. 

“So, umm, maybe we should talk about before,” Hinata finally said, pretty sure that Tobio wasn’t going to say anything if he didn’t. “At the planetarium.” 

“Which part?”

Hinata narrowed his eyes, “That’s a joke, right?” 

“Well…”

“Kageyama-kun, you kissed me!” 

“You held my hand first!” 

The door opened and both young men turned red, realizing they had been having this argument quite loudly. 

“Welcome back, Shouyou,” Akaashi said, a poorly masked smile on his face. “I was just about to text you.”

“Oh, hi, yeah, umm… Wait, why?” 

“Natsu-chan arrived at the station not too long ago, she should be here soon.” 

As if on cue, footsteps could be heard on the stairs and Hinata Natsu appeared from around the corner. 

Natsu was 16 and about the same height as her brother, making her look a lot like him. She kept her hair just a little longer than Hinata’s and, like her brother, it was generally a bit of a mess. She was as outgoing as her brother, or maybe more so, and despite being four years younger, she could nearly match him in terms of spiritualism. Having a pure gold aura had it’s benefits, after all. 

“ _ Nii-chan _ ,” Natsu greeted when she saw Hinata. “Oh, and hello Akaashi-sensei.” 

“Natsu-chan, I’ve told you that you don’t need to be so formal,” Akaashi said with a smile. “You look well.”

“You look like shit,” Natsu said matter-of-factly before thinking better of her words. “I guess you look better than last time I saw you, though.” 

“You might be right about that.” Akaashi looked around at everyone standing outside. “Why don’t you three come inside?”

“I don’t want to bother–” Tobio started to say, only to be cut off by Natsu. 

“Who are you, anyway?” 

“Me?” Tobio pointed to himself as if she could be asking about anyone else. “I’m Kageyama Tobio.” 

“You!” Natsu shouted, stomping over to Tobio while Hinata tried to figure out how to defuse the situation. He really couldn’t think of anything. “Asshole! What are you doing, putting my big brother in danger?”

“Me?” Tobio repeated, this time indignant. “Your big brother is the one putting himself in danger!” 

“Who brought him to some stupid portal?”

“I wasn’t the one who brought him! My sister chose him!”

“Are you saying you didn’t want to work with me,” Hinata asked, feeling a little hurt by Tobio’s tone. “Do you only do what your sister tells you to do?” 

“That’s not fair,” Tobio insisted, looking like he was only now realizing how out of control this had gotten. 

“Did your sister tell you to kiss me too?” Hinata shouted without thinking about their audience. 

“No, dumbass, I did that because I like you!” Tobio shouted back.

Hinata opened his mouth but found nothing to say and so he just stood there, mouth agape while Tobio glared at him, Akaashi smirked, and Natsu blinked at them. After a few seconds of blinking, Natsu burst out laughing, the laughter continuing for long enough to make her tear up. 

“And I thought my confession was bad,” Natsu finally said, walking past Hinata and Tobio to go inside. 

“Wait, confession?” Hinata called after her. “You’re dating someone?” 

“Maybe,” was the response and Akaashi chuckled. 

“I’ll give you two a minute,” Akaashi said before shutting the door. 

Slowly, Hinata looked back at Tobio, whose face had returned to being beet red. 

“So, umm, you like me?”

“Duh, that’s why I kissed you.” Tobio’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why would I kiss you if I didn’t like you?” 

Hinata shrugged, “kissing is fun?” 

“Whatever,” Tobio mumbled. 

“Hey,” Hinata smiled, stepping closer to Tobio and touching the side of his face to get him to look up. “Was that your first kiss?”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Tobio’s eyes wouldn’t stay on Hinata’s face as he spoke and Hinata couldn’t help but find Tobio very cute. “But… you  _ are _ my first friend, so…” 

“I won’t make fun of you,” Hinata said, tugging on the back of Tobio’s neck to bring him closer.

Tobio obliged and Hinata kissed him, taking his time even as Tobio seemed confused about what he should do. Still, Tobio leaned into the kiss and so Hinata let it drag out until he needed to take a breath. 

“Now you’ve had your second kiss, so it’s not really a big deal.” Hinata glanced at the front door and then back at Tobio. “Now, let’s go interrogate my sister.” 

“Me too?”

“Well, Akaashi-senpai did invite you in. You can’t really say no, can you?” 

Hinata took hold of Tobio’s hand, pulling him toward the door. Just before he opened the door, Hinata looked back and saw that Tobio was smiling again, looking like he had at the planetarium museum. 

This time, though, the smile seemed to be directed at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a little early because I won't have time to post at my normal time. Also, I'm not sure if I'll be able to post the new chapter next week. I'm having more trouble than expected writing it as I've lost a lot of my passion for this story because of some person BS. So, yeah, I'm sorry if this doesn't get updated for a little while, but I swear I'll finish it eventually. 
> 
> Thank you for your understanding.


	8. Chapter 7 - June and July

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata was glad for the breather even if something still felt very, very wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry...
> 
> As usual, this is unedited....

"What?" Hinata stared at his sister, feeling like he was losing his mind. "You're staying? What about school?"

"I got accepted to the Spiritualists school here," Natsu explained, sipping her tea with a self-satisfied smile playing on her lips. "I'm starting at the beginning of the second term, in August." 

"And where exactly are you going to live? The dorms have to be full already."

"I'll live with you and Akaashi-sensei until a spot opens," she told him simply. "Or are you going to leave your poor sister out on the street?"

"Why didn't you tell me this before you came?"

"You would've convinced mom and dad not to let me go," Natsu glared at her brother. "They just can't resist you when you act like a worried big brother."

"It's not that I don't want you to become a Spiritualist, it's just that things have been more dangerous lately."

"Don't you think I know that?" Natsu's glare didn't falter. "I've been working with Takeda-sensei and Ukai-sensei for two years. Things aren't better at home."

Natsu was a prodigy in many ways. She had a pure gold aura like so many of the Hinata family, but she also learned from watching Shouyou, which had made her into a hard worker. Her combination of talent and hard work made her one of the best of her generation. Shouyou had started working with Takeda and Ukai when he was pretty young, but that was more because his lack of aura made him more susceptible to spirits than an average person. Natsu had started her training at 10 and probably would have been accepted by Ukai and Takeda earlier than 14 if it wasn't for the fact that they had another apprentice at the time. 

"Just be careful," Hinata finally said with a deep sigh. 

"Look who's talking." Natsu rolled her eyes. "Anyways, here's your feather."

Hinata took the box from her, opening it to find a gold feather, just like Ukai had described. 

"Ukai-sensei and Takeda-sensei decided to make it a necklace so you could wear it all the time," Natsu explained. "Now put it on."

"I am," Hinata stuck his tongue out at her, pulling the necklace on. "Did they have anything else to say about this thing?"

"Nope," Natsu stretched, yawning without covering her mouth. "I'm tired, can I go to bed now?"

"Of course," Akaashi said. "I'll get our extra futon. Unless you just want to sleep on the couch."

"Thanks, but that's up to  _ Nii-chan _ ."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm taking your bed," Natsu said, smirking. 

"No, you're not!" Hinata exclaimed but Natsu was already headed to his room. "Natsu! Hey! Ugh."

Giving up, he leaned against Tobio, his head flopping on the other's shoulder.

"I didn't even get to ask who she's dating."

"Sounds like you'll have time," Akaashi pointed out. "Well, I'm going to bed too. You can get the futon yourself, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Hinata grumbled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

The dining room was suddenly very quiet, Hinata just paying attention to the sound of Tobio's quiet breathing. Outside, a car drive past, and something made a loud noise that Hinata couldn't place.

"Today was weird," Hinata finally said. 

"Weird?"

Hinata gave him a look for a long time before Kageyama looked away, pursing his lips a little. 

"I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right," Hinata pouted jokingly but then the silence was broken but Natsu shouting for Hinata. 

" _ Nii-chan _ , why are there spirits in your room?"

"Ugh," Hinata sat up. "I need to deal with this."

"I should go," Tobio said.

"If you want," Hinata smiled and leaned over to peck a kiss onto Tobio's lips. "That's three."

"You don't need to count," Tobio mumbled, his blush returning. "Today was good."

"Yeah, it was."

" _ Nii-chan _ !"

"I'm coming!" Hinata sighed. "See you."

"Yeah, see you later."

Hinata wanted nothing more than to kiss Tobio again, chasing the happiness he'd been feeling with each kiss. He knew dating someone wouldn't fix him, but it seemed to make things easier. Maybe he'd be able to get better. Maybe he could move on. 

Maybe they'd all be okay. 

With Natsu staying at their apartment and Akaashi home more thanks to Hinata's continued rest time, it was difficult to spend time alone with Tobio. When he wasn't working, Miwa was often home too so his place was usually not an option, though at least his bedroom was private unlike Hinata's.

While waiting to start classes, Natsu had taken to tagging along with Akaashi on jobs as his 'new apprentice.' Natsu had trained as both a Primary and Secondary, so she could fill in if needed, her skills enough that people didn't question what a 16-year-old was doing on jobs. It also helped that Shouyou looked young for his age. When people heard Natsu was his sister, many of them assumed she was just similarly young-looking. 

Tonight, Miwa was away on a trip to the next city for a consultation so Tobio and Hinata had Tobio's place to themselves. Tobio hadn't technically told Miwa he and Hinata were dating, but Hinata suspected she could guess as much. She probably knew that Tobio had had a crush on Hinata and was trying to get them to spend time together. Hinata had definitely done that to Natsu once or twice, though it hadn't gone anywhere then. 

"37," Hinata told Tobio breathlessly when they broke away from each other. 

"Hinata, I swear to God," Tobio responded. "How do you even remember?"

"Because at the end of the day, I write it in my journal," Hinata quipped, leaning in and giving Tobio three quick kisses. "40."

"I don't think makeouts count as one," Tobio grumbled. 

"If our lips come apart, that's one."

"You are the least romantic person I know."

"Don't you know yourself?"

Tobio glared at him, grabbing Hinata's wrists and flipping him onto his back, leaning over him. 

"You are the worst."

"And you're forward tonight," Hinata smirked, earning him a blush. He turned his head and kissed Tobio's wrist. "40 and a half."

"A half?"

"Only one set of lips." He kissed Tobio's other wrist. "41."

"I hate you ."

"I don't think you do " Hinata wrapped his legs around Tobio's waist, Tobio's eyes widening, and pulled him farther down so Hinata could kiss him, long and hard. 

"Shit," Tobio whispered.

"42," Hinata whispered back.

"Stop it."

"Okay," Hinata smirked then turned his head while keeping eye contact with Tobio, dragging his tongue across Tobio's wrist. "How's that?"

Tobio let go of Hinata's wrists, sitting back while looking shocked and embarrassed, which just made Hinata feel happier. He sat up and reached for Tobio, one hand running softly up and down Tobio's inner arm while the other slipped under Tobio's shirt, his thumb grazing Tobio's nipple. Tobio took a sharp breath and Hinata's smiled widened. He leaned in, whispering into Tobio's ear. 

"Still want me to stop?"

But Tobio didn't get to respond because the sound of the front door unlocking sent them both rocketing away from each other and to opposite sides of the couch, Hinata's red face finally matching Tobio's. 

"I'm home," Miwa called, exhaustion in her tone. "Oh, hello, Hinata."

"Hello Miwa-hakase," Hinata stammered, forgetting what to call Miwa. "I mean, Kageyama-hakase. Or, no, Miwa-chan. No–"

"Shut up," Tobio hissed and Hinata followed his directions, but Miwa was already laughing. 

"What the hell were you two doing?" She raised an eyebrow at Tobio. "Tobio, do you have something to tell me?"

"No," Tobio said, not looking at his sister.

"Oh my God, Kageyama," Hinata rolled his eyes. "She obviously already knows."

"I'm proud of you," Miwa said, patting Tobio on the head. "I'm tired so I'm going to sleep. No sex on the couch."

"Miwa-chan!" Tobio exclaimed, looking caught between anger and embarrassment. 

"Good night. Feel free to stay over, Hinata."

A door closed and Hinata let his face fall into his hands, the heat feeling like it was going to burn his skin. 

"I almost got caught with my hand up your shirt," he complained. "I thought she wasn't coming home tonight."

"Me too," Tobio said, his voice trailing off before he spoke in a quiet, slightly shaky voice. "Could you… I want you to do it again."

"Huh?" Hinata peaked out from behind his hands, finding Tobio red-faced but somewhat certain.

"I liked it when you did that."

Hinata sprung up and grabbed Tobio's wrist, dragging him toward his room. After all, Miwa had only specified about the couch. 

Hinata didn’t even remember the nightmare when he woke up in a cold sweat and so he thought about just trying to go back to sleep. But he didn’t want to chance having another nightmare so, instead, he quietly got up from the futon next to his bed, heading to the kitchen to get some water. 

It was only when he left the room and saw the top of Natsu’s head on the other side of the couch that he even thought about the fact that his notoriously light-sleeping sister hadn’t woken up when he had shot up from his nightmare. 

“Natsu?” Hinata asked, his voice still a little sleepy, making him feel like he hadn’t actually woken up. 

Natsu stood, her eyes on the couch still, not responding. Hinata was unsurprised to find Akaashi asleep on the couch, clutching the same stuffed owl as usual. 

“Oh,” was all Hinata could respond before sighing and doing what he usually did by scooping Akaashi up. 

He and Akaashi had a silent agreement that if one of them found the other sleeping somewhere strange, they would just bring them back to bed and not comment on it. Hinata knew Akaashi had done the same for him many times after having fallen asleep in the corner of their living room that Hinata liked to go when he was overwhelmed by everything. 

When Hinata returned, Natsu was still staring at the couch, her eyebrows knitted together. Hinata simply sat on the couch, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down next to him. 

“You two are way worse than I expected,” Natsu finally said, leaning her head against Hinata’s shoulder. 

“Akaashi was hit worse than me,” Hinata explained. “He was all Akaashi had left. Akaashi’s family died not long after he and Bokuto-sensei got their official status. Akaashi has friends, but Bokuto-sensei was his family.”

“You’re his family too,” Natsu said.

“I guess I am…” Hinata’s frown deepened. “But, they were in love. I can’t fill that hole.” 

“What about you?” Natsu asked, tilting her head to look at Hinata. “What was he to you?”

“My master? My role-model? I don’t know, but he was definitely my friend and in two years he really… It was only two years but I don’t remember how to live without him here. I guess, in a way, I loved him too.”

Natsu was quiet, her body still and her eyes deep in thought. There was something swirling behind them that made Hinata sad and worried. 

“Please don’t get yourself killed,” she finally said, her voice soft and vulnerable. “Please don’t leave me.” 

“I won’t,” Hinata assured her.

“Promise?”

“I promise,” he said was a nod. “Now, why don’t we go back to bed?” 

Natsu nodded and let herself be led back to bed, even letting Hinata tuck her in like he did when she was just a little kid. Then he laid back down himself and tried his best to get some sleep. 

He didn’t sleep well, but it was still the best sleep he’d gotten in a while. 

Once Hinata was allowed to start doing some work again, he and Akaashi started training with Tobio and Miwa again, even bringing Natsu along sometimes. Today, though, she needed to do some paperwork for school so it had just been the four of them. Then Tobio and Miwa had to leave for some work, so Akaashi and Hinata ended up going to a late lunch by themselves. 

They’d been picking at their food for a while when Akaashi spoke. 

“Shouyou, if I ask, would you promise not to fully enter the In-Between again?”

Hinata looked up, uncertain where this came from and even more uncertain what to say in response.

“Akaashi-senpai…?”

“It’s too dangerous. He never should’ve taught you how to do it.” Akaashi was glaring at his food, stabbing a tomato with his fork but not bringing it up to his mouth to eat. 

“Akaashi-senpai, where is this coming from?”

Akaashi looked up at Hinata, his eyes tired and set. He was frowning deeply, his entire body seeming to droop with the expression. 

“It’s nearly August.”

“Yeah.”

“The thing you were hearing, you said you thought it was a Cuckoo. I did research and they’re associated with death. What better month for a symbol of death.”

Hinata looked away from Akaashi, trying to change the subject, “That’s right. We should make plans to visit Bokuto-sensei’s grave–”

“Don’t ignore me,” Akaashi’s voice was frozen solid. “I need you to promise me not to enter the In-Between.”

“Akaashi, I can’t promise that,” Hinata said. 

“When Kotarou died, he’d fully entered.” Hinata’s mouth went dry. Akaashi had never told him that, even if he suspected it. “He never should’ve taught you.” 

“I’m glad he did,” Hinata said, finally looking back at Akaashi. He refused to be scolded like a child. Akaashi knew better than to treat him like that. “I can promise not to do it unless it’s necessary, but that’s as far as I’ll go.” 

Akaashi dropped his gaze, his shoulders still tight even as he sighed, sounding resigned. 

“You’re a bullheaded idiot.” He looked up and a faint smile danced on his lips. “You’re just like him.” 

Hinata laughed a little at that, “thanks.”

“That wasn’t supposed to be a compliment.”

“Sure it wasn’t.”

Akaashi’s smiled widened a little, just barely reaching his eyes as he chuckled, finally eating the tomato on his fork. 

“We’re fucked up, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Hinata agreed. “You think we should do something about that?”

“Let’s see if we make it through August. Then we can figure out ourselves.” 

“Sounds good.” Hinata’s smiled fizzled as a thought came into his mind along with a black cloud that seemed to say they wouldn’t make it through August. “Akaashi, I’m not planning on dying or anything, but… If something happens to me, will you keep an eye on Natsu?”

“Shouyou…”

“It’ll make me feel better, okay?” Hinata’s eyes were pleading with Akaashi, who just sighed. “I promise I’m not planning on dying.”

“Fine, I promise. But if something happens to me you’ll find a new secondary.”

“Okay, I promise.” 

The mood thoroughly ruined, they both went back to their lunch, though neither of them ate much more. Even with the dark mood, though, Hinata felt a little better about what would happen if something happened to him. 

Not that he was planning on anything happening, he’d thought to himself as if that wasn’t what every person thought before something terrible happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, how long has it been? Please don't expect me to get back on a real update schedule. I just... needed to get this out. 
> 
> I've had a terrible case of writer's block for everything lately. Like I can't write anything. I used most of my energy to finish this chapter. 
> 
> Thank you for bearing with me.

**Author's Note:**

> Currently on a weekly update schedule. When part 1 finishes (chapter 7) I will be taking a break. 
> 
> I hope you'll like this! I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while and have finally found my footing with it. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! And thank you for leaving kudos and comments!


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